Frida Kahlo's self-portraits have made her an international icon, with her thick-browed image immortalized on candles, T-shirts, bags, refrigerator magnets, calendars, cards, posters and other everyday things all over the world.
Now, almost seven decades after her death, an art exhibit immerses fans in a more intimate experience that not only celebrates her artwork, but also puts a spotlight on her ideas, beliefs and politics.
The “Immersive Frida Kahlo” art installation commemorates the Mexican icon’s 1930s tour through the United States, and features some of her best-known works in seven cities, including Dallas, Boston, Houston, Chicago, Denver, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.
Already open in some of the cities, the exhibit uses digital technology and music to create a 360-degree experience for visitors to "step" into Kahlo's world.
It's produced by Lighthouse Immersive, the same team that produced the popular "Immersive Van Gogh" exhibit.
“I think it’s important that people get to know all of the Fridas. Frida the human, Frida the single woman, Frida the charitable helper, not only think of her as a painter,” Mara Kahlo, her great-grandniece, said.
The exhibit showcases the painter’s diverse heritage. Her father, Guillermo Kahlo, was an important influence on her artistic interests. He was a German immigrant with Mexican citizenship who became the first official photographer for Porfirio Díaz — a general and politician who served as Mexico’s president seven terms.
Mara Kahlo calls attention to the artist’s mother, Matilde Calderón y González, saying that she had an active hand in shaping the Mexican icon’s artwork after a car accident left Kahlo temporarily bedridden early in her life.
“Frida’s mom had a bed built with a canopy. Since this canopy had a mirror, Frida could see herself and paint her portrait,” Mara Kahlo said. “I think she really was a painter who mainly did self-portraits. And she said that she did them because she knew herself the best.”
Art critics point out how Kahlo's self portraits use nature to create powerful paintings with animals and plants that represent Mexico’s diversity and put forward her progressive social and political beliefs.
“She’s a woman ahead of her time. Her art was ahead of her time. Everyone said that she paints from the inside out, that she doesn’t copy or reproduce things," Mara Kahlo said. "So I think you have to recognize that she painted her thoughts, her reality, her life.”
Mara de Anda, Mara Kahlo’s daughter, told NBC News that both of them were named Mara after a mermaid in the 1948 film “Tarzan and the Mermaids" — and it was also a pseudonym adopted by the icon herself.
“During every full moon, the mermaid grows legs and comes out of the sea to basically procreate," de Anda said about the movie. "And the name of the mermaid is Mara. Frida falls in love with the name and uses it to write to her lovers ... There are several paintings that are signed as ‘Mara’ that are known to be hers.”
Coincidentally, the Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez told NBC News in 2021 that his mother — the soap opera star Silvia Derbez — got her first uncredited movie role in that same film, which starred Hollywood legend Johnny Weissmuller and the Mexican actor Linda Christian.
Fans will recall many stories about Kahlo, including her real and rumored love affairs with legendary actors Josephine Baker and Paulette Goddard and the Mexico icon María Felix, as well as the Soviet leader Leon Trotsky, and the artist's famous husband — the Mexican painter and muralist Diego Rivera.
But her family says that to know the real Kahlo, it is important to look past the legend and see the complex beauty she was inside.
“Beyond the painter is her personality,” de Alma said.
Her great-grandaunt’s personality is what makes her painting iconic, Mara Kahlo said, transmitting her strength and vitality.
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